Qualla: Harriet Tubman Byway: The Routes That Led to Freedom https://qualla.com/harriet-tubman-underground en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:06 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/d/q/c/f/harriet-tubman-underground-wk/an-nps-ranger-gives-a-talk-at--1.jpg Qualla: Harriet Tubman Byway: The Routes That Led to Freedom https://qualla.com/harriet-tubman-underground Harriet Tubman Byway: The Routes That Led to Freedom: Introduction https://qualla.com/harriet-tubman-underground/ Photo credit Photographer: Horatio Seymour Squyer, 1848 - 18 Dec 1905, Public domain. She was born Araminta Ross around 1822 in Dorchester County, Maryland, enslaved on the Eastern Shore where the Chesapeake's marshes provided both misery and possibility. She escaped in 1849, walking nearly 90 miles to freedom in Pennsylvania. Then she came back. Over the next decade, Harriet Tubman made approximately thirteen trips into slave territory, guiding roughly seventy people to freedom through a network of safe houses, hidden routes, and trusted allies known as the Underground Railroad. She was never caught, never lost a passenger. The landscape where she operated is still recognizable - tidal marshes, dense forests, small crossroads towns - now interpreted by the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historical Park and Byway. The freedom she sought was a journey, not a destination, and it started in these fields.

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Image: Photographer: Horatio Seymour Squyer, 1848 - 18 Dec 1905 | Public domain

]]> Mon, 12 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/q/c/f/harriet-tubman-underground-wk/dqcf-harriet-tubman-byway-the-routes-that-led-to-freedo-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Harriet Tubman Byway: The Routes That Led to Freedom: The Land https://qualla.com/harriet-tubman-underground/ Photo credit NPS Photo, Public domain. Maryland's Eastern Shore was tobacco country, then timber country, the enslaved population working farms and logging forests. The terrain was flat, marshy, crisscrossed by waterways that could be paths to freedom or traps for the pursued. Tubman knew this land intimately - she ha...

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Image: NPS Photo | Public domain

]]> Mon, 12 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/q/c/f/harriet-tubman-underground-wk/dqcf-harriet-tubman-byway-the-routes-that-led-to-freedo-the-land.mp3 0:06 2 full Harriet Tubman Byway: The Routes That Led to Freedom: The Network https://qualla.com/harriet-tubman-underground/ Photo credit NPS Photo, Public domain. The Underground Railroad was neither underground nor railroad. It was a loose network of abolitionists, free Blacks, and sympathizers who provided shelter, food, transportation, and guidance to those escaping slavery. 'Stations' were safe houses; 'conductors' were guides like Tub...

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Image: NPS Photo | Public domain

]]> Mon, 12 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/q/c/f/harriet-tubman-underground-wk/dqcf-harriet-tubman-byway-the-routes-that-led-to-freedo-the-network.mp3 0:06 3 full Harriet Tubman Byway: The Routes That Led to Freedom: The Rescues https://qualla.com/harriet-tubman-underground/ Photo credit NPS Photo, Public domain. Tubman's missions required extraordinary courage. She returned to territory where she was known, where capture meant return to slavery or worse. She carried a pistol, reportedly telling passengers that those who turned back endangered everyone - 'You'll be free or die.' She devel...

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Image: NPS Photo | Public domain

]]> Mon, 12 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/q/c/f/harriet-tubman-underground-wk/dqcf-harriet-tubman-byway-the-routes-that-led-to-freedo-the-rescues.mp3 0:06 4 full Harriet Tubman Byway: The Routes That Led to Freedom: The Park https://qualla.com/harriet-tubman-underground/ Photo credit NPS Photo, Public domain. The Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historical Park was established in 2014, protecting the landscapes where Tubman lived and operated. The visitor center in Church Creek interprets her life and the Underground Railroad. The byway extends 125 miles across Dorchester ...

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Image: NPS Photo | Public domain

]]> Mon, 12 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/q/c/f/harriet-tubman-underground-wk/dqcf-harriet-tubman-byway-the-routes-that-led-to-freedo-the-park.mp3 0:06 5 full Harriet Tubman Byway: The Routes That Led to Freedom: Visiting Harriet Tubman Byway https://qualla.com/harriet-tubman-underground/ Photo credit NPS Photo, Public domain. The Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historical Park visitor center is located in Church Creek, Maryland, on the Eastern Shore. Cambridge is the nearest town with full services. The byway is best experienced by car, with stops at marked sites along the route. The visi...

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Image: NPS Photo | Public domain

]]> Mon, 12 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/q/c/f/harriet-tubman-underground-wk/dqcf-harriet-tubman-byway-the-routes-that-led-to-freedo-visiting-harriet-tubman-byway.mp3 0:06 6 full